My Childhhood Friend Colleen And Paintings by Her Dad, Principal Tom Collins

When Lori and I were planning our trip this past May, I had contacted a dear childhood friend, in the hopes that we might be able to meet up while Lori and I were in the area. Colleen and I hadn't seen each other since her family moved away the summer before our 7th grade year.
Not only did we get to go see her, but she and her "significant other" Bruce even invited us to stay overnight in their lovely home!
How often do you get to see somebody whom you have not laid eyes on in close to 50 years?
I have tears in my eyes as I write this - you cannot even begin to imagine how happy I was to see her again!
I put together this assortment of Colleen's school photos, which I had save over the years. ( I mean, of COURSE I did!)

Her father was the principal at our elementary school, Gold Oak Union in Placerville for a number of years, and, until I saw these paintings hanging in her home, I had been unaware that he was also a artist.

The first one I'm sharing in today's post might be my favorite, because it brought to mind Heidi's Grandfather's cabin from the Johanna Spyri classic, complete with goats:

Here is a photo of the Gold Oak Faculty, pictured in our old elementary school yearbook  from 1966:

And I took this photo of a portrait from when Tom Collins was in the Navy, and you can also see the small picture of he and Colleen together (taken around 2007) tucked into the bottom of the frame.

And here are a few more of his lovely paintings:

I walked around their house snapping pictures, as you may have guessed!

So pretty!

I love this red barn in the snow:

And this is a beautiful scene:

I'm sorry to say that Colleen's mother Nidabelle passed away in 2004, and her father Tom died in 2009.
I'd have loved to have had the chance to see both of them again, had that been possible.
 I found out something surprising during our visit that I had never known.
The Collins family had actually lived in THIS area prior to moving to Placerville, and Mr. Collins had been the principal at Jamestown Elementary for two years! That school is less than five miles from where I live now.
I realized, after finding that out, that Colleen's sister Ruth and my friend Mallory who owns The Emporium, a wonderful antiques store in Jamestown would have been in the same class, so I asked Mallory later if she remembered Ruth, and she did - and Mr. Collins, as well!
Now, it really IS a small world, isn't it?
I have a few more photos to share - so please come back tomorrow for part two!

Poppies are a Sign it's Spring in California

Tina here.

Here at our home in Kelsey we have been waiting for our poppies to bloom. A couple of weeks ago we could see color starting, but then horrendous storms with pounding rain have hit a couple of times, winds at 50 miles per hour, even hail visited. The poppies retreated and it seems they may not come back. This is our 20th spring, and I think there was only one when we had no poppies.



These photos from March are of the rolling hills that surround Interstate 5, along the Ridge Route in Southern California. It is so unbelievably beautiful I can hardly stand it. I want to be there!

Two gorgeous examples of my two favorite colors, orange and green, with a such-a-perfect-blue-it-must-be-magic sky thrown in.



Honk, honk! Hey you drivers! Look up! You don't want to miss this! California Gold at its best! The Golden State is dressing herself up for Easter!

If you have a place nearby you where poppies bloom, such as off Highway 49 in the Gold Country, go for a drive, take a picnic along perhaps, and go looking for a florescent glowing hillside. One hint of how to find good places: they are usually south facing and very often will be near rivers or a body of water.



Pretty Christmas Window Displays In Downtown Sonora

Lori and I went for a walk downtown after dinner on Thanksgiving night.
I thought I'd share the photos I snapped with my phone of some of the pretty shop windows.
This one was my favorite, hands down:

I do not remember which shops most of them were, so I will add names in later on, if I can get back down there and write them down!
This one was so pretty in blue with snowflakes and snowmen:

Here are two more nice one with trees and lights in red and white and plenty of sparkle!

And this one is Antiques, Etc. - now of COURSE I remember that one!

 Close up on those gorgeous ceramic trees that I love so much:

 Sorry this one is dark, The Candy Vault:

How's this next one for "cuteness factor"?
A pretty kitty in the window at Downtown Shoes:

I'll leave you with one last picture:

This kitty (in another window) was NOT ready for his close-up.
He just wanted to sleep, and that was it.

Mother Nature went out bowling on Sunday night!

Good morning, Tina here.

We had quite a thunder and lightning storm here Sunday night, it lasted about an hour. A dark black cloud came over our house.

I was watching TV, about to go upstairs to bed to read.  Hubby said, "oh, I just saw some lightning". That was about 7:45.  If you looked to the west, you couldn't miss it. And it went on and on, kept coming towards us and as it passed over the house it headed east.

Hubby took pictures but I don't have them on my computer. The thunder was glorious. It did sound like someone was bowling up in the heavens. It just rolled on and on.

Mother nature was definitely having a good time, and I think she rolled a strike!

The next day Facebook had photos from all over.  The sun as it crept toward the horizon.

Those clouds were very heavy and quite serious in their intent.

The Mosquito airport area was surrounded by color.

Main Street Georgetown looking south (towards our house!)

This is very close to what it looked like at our house, sunset on one side, lightning on the other.

One photographer said it reminded him of the King Fire since it was lit up with a strange glow.

I do wish I had the sound recorded. The thunder was incredible.

Lighting up the sky in Cool.

If you look closely at the top of the trees in the middle there is a streak of lightning there too. It was all over the sky.

That cloud again, this time looking south from Coloma/Lotus at the foot of Marshall Grade.

In a lot of places Mother Nature ended her bowling game with a celebratory rainbow.

April has been a glorious month, and it isn't quite over with yet... more thundershowers due here tonight.

Hoping for Rainbows

Good morning. Tina here. 

The weatherman says we might be getting some rain.

We could use a bit of rain.  

We had a couple of drops (literally) a couple of days ago.

It smelled good, that herbal scent you get when dried weeds become wet.

I am hoping for a rainbow.

I want the sky to cry and the land to rejoice.

Come soar overhead, lovely colors of light.

Butterflies In The Lilac Bush

When one of our grandsons was here last week, he and I noticed there were butterflies all over the lilac bush in the back yard.

I don't know how many pictures I took trying to get at least one that was decent!
They move and flutter too much, they were too high up and - I am NOT a photographer, by any means.

He kept trying (in vain) to get one of the butterflies to land on him. But he was too loud, and he never stayed still, either!

He also kept saying "I wish I had my net..."
I was kind of glad he didn't.

And, oh - the lilacs smell SO good!

Lounge Chair Road Trip No. 5: Daffodil Hill 1968

Good morning, Tina here. We have had an early spring in Kelsey, and our daffodils, which are many, are almost gone. The poppies barely showed up. So I have been wanting to take a drive, and go searching for some wildflower color, but I don't think that is going to happen. 

A facebook friend from Amador County shared two photos of peacocks in Daffodil Hill from 1968. 

So this is my armchair road trip for today.

I guess these particular beautiful birds are no longer around, but their children and children's children are.  We have peacocks just down the street from our home in Kelsey, and it is almost time for them to proudly show off their chicks. They parade across the road showing off, and you can hear their calls from over a mile away.

Have a great day, and if it isn't spring yet where you are, try a lounge chair road trip to somewhere warm!

Because It Isn't Spring Without Azalea Photos...

I think I post photos of these every year, but I can't help myself.

Our azalea bushes out front look so pretty.....

 ... .and they don't last forever, so.......

 All the better to at least try and preserves them with a picture or two.

 
 Or, um, ten.

Yes, that's it.